The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-04-27

ana was the SUBJECT or constant Vltupera-
ton on the part of public speakers.
A case of business boycott may be men,
toned as illustrative of the spirit which
prevailed. One OF the prominent men of
that period was John Garrick, we'll
known lumber merchant, and who was
successful as a business man. He is man
against whose integrity there has never
been a suspicion. and whose private and
business life has always been above re-
proach. He was Democrat when the war
broke out, and continued to be so to the
end, and is probably still firm in the faith
at the present date. While q Democrat ne
was not Gisunionist. He believed aud
aTgued-for he was an excellent public
speaker-that slavery could be disposed of
and all the difficulties involved in the war
of secession could be settled and the Union
preserved without resort to armed CO.
ercion. For this he was made target by
the loyalists of Chicago. One OF the head
lines of the leading "loyar" newspaper of
the city headed a report of one of his
speeches with black letters like those on
poster: ''Garrick, the Traitor! Spot
Him."
When Lincoln was assassinated a meet
ing of the lumbermen was called to take
action in the case of Garrick, and it was
formally resolved by that body ''thst we
will neither sell to, nor buy from said John
Garrick, and that we pledge ourselves to
do all in our power to drive him from the
lumber market of Chicago" Only one
man, S. b. Gardiner, opposed this atrocious
boycott. 1t is related by Garrick that not
long after this he procured a heavy con-
tract for the supply of ties for railway
company, and that then it was a common
thing for the chaps who had boycotted him
to come to him and beg him to give them a
cargo of ties for shipment. 1t may be added
that since the period of the meeting each of
the members had apologized to Garrick for
his action in the matter.
Democrats were assaulted on the streets
without any provocation, and the acts were
excused by public opinion on the ground
that they were the punishment of treason.
The editor of the Times, in coming one
day out of the Sherman House, was struck
down to the sidewalk by a Republican
rufhan, named "Horse-Eddy," without q
single word being uttered save blasphe-
nous curse by the "loyal" thug as he
launched his fist.
Ali this persecution, which, by the way,
was exclusively the work of the stay.at-
home patriots, extended, as said, into bus
mess, private life, social relations, and
more especially into politics. 1t was at
this point that the Order of the American
Knights was instituted. 1t was for the
protection of its members at the polls and
IN the enjoyment of their political rights
as citizens and voters. To this end citizens
organized. They had to do something to
dam the waves of fanaticism which threat
ened TO oyerwhelm everything democratic.
They had the entire right to do this, aud
they had the further right to purchase and
store arms, with whose aid they proposed
TO defend their rights. 1t was a period
when the righteous laws OF self defense de-
manded that these men should be ready to
resist to the death the outrages to which
they were subjected.
Thus, one element in the alleged con-
spiraey, so far as the oath-Dound order of
American Knights is concerned, may be
regarded as eliminated.
little investigation into the character
OF the men who composed the alleged con-
spiracy may afford some light as to its
real character. One of the prominent men
was Buckner S. Morris, than whom no more
honorable man or citizen ever had exist
ence. This fact is not denied even by the
fanatics who were engaged in prosecuting
all who differed from them in their
views of the conduct of the war. Insured
ton, bIoodshed, the horrors of an inter-
necine contest were as repellant to the
gentle nature of Mr.. Morris as would be
the taste of carrion to a dove. He was
sensitive, benignant, charitable, and, sup
ported by his excellent wife, occupied him
self in efforts to relieve the condition of the
Confederate prisoners in Camp Douglas.
At this point it may be said that this
generation is not fully nor correctly in
formed as to the treatment which was ex.
tended to the prisoners held in this city.
1t is generally believed that il was hui
NAME christianlike and beyond reproach.
Such was its superficial appearance; at the
bottom there is reason for believing that
outrages and iniQuities prevailed that were
fully as infamous as those charged to the
account of Andersonville. The death-rate
wa 1nTTc for
larger, in fact, than in the worst prison
pens in the South. Extortion without
limit was practiced on the prisoners, one
form OF it being the charging OF % cents
for postal-stamp, and other prices in pro-
portion.
Said well-known and entirely reliable
citizen: 81 had the handling of a great
deal Of money collected for the benefit of
the Confederate prisoners, and have since
learned from conversation with many OF
them that at least so per cent. of the
amount sent them by me was stoleD!'
Another citizen who spent some time in
travelling in the South since the war, and
who saw and conversed with many ex-
Confederates who were confined in Camp
Douglas, asserts that the variations of
many of these men were horrifying in the
extreme, and that Writ, the tool of the
Confederate authorities, was in no sense
worse than some OF the officials who con-
trolled the Chicago pen. It was to allevi-
ate the hardships endured by these people
that Judge Morris gave much Of his time.
1t was this sympathy with suffering for
rebel prisoners that drew on him the
suspicion OF the "loyal" stay-at-homes in
Chicago and led to an attempt to inculpate
him in conspiracy.
Many people when they hear mentioned
the name of Charles Walsh, the indicted
conspirator, Immediately create in their
minds a fierce, truculent IrishmaD, with
the appearance of brigand and the bloody
tendencies of pirate. He was known as
gadier-General Walsh, COMMANDER of
the Sons of Liberty" and the conspirator
whose outhouses were filed with muskets
and pistols, and whose family occupied its
time in making cartridges. Such, at least,
was the testimony OF detectives who APP
peared on his trial.
Let us glance. for moment, at this for
midable cabalist traitor, conspirator, and
criminal. AT that time he was a man OF
about forty years of age, with mild blue
eye, light complexion, and q gentle ex-
preston. He was man Of warm. SYM
pathetic nature, hating wrong of all kinds,
affable in his neighborly relations, I'M
hinchiDg in his friendships, and an honor
able business man. Is this the kind of
material of which conspirators, plotting
unholy instructions, are made?
Mr.. Walsh owned and occupied capa-
cious and pleasant home in the southern